Industrial Truck

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to an industrial truck having an operating console ( 14 ) and an adjustable mounting ( 20 ) for the operating console ( 14 ), the mounting ( 20 ) being fitted to a frame part ( 24 ) of the industrial truck by means of a joint arrangement ( 22 ) such that it can be pivoted about an inclination adjustment axis ( 26 ), so that it can be adjusted as desired into different pivoted positions in order to position the operating console ( 14 ) in various inclined settings, in addition at least one blockable gas spring ( 32 ) being provided between a frame part ( 24 ) of the industrial truck and the mounting ( 20 ) as a locking element for fixing the mounting ( 20 ) in a respective pivoted position, and this blockable gas spring ( 32 ) being provided with a triggering device ( 42 ) that can be operated in order to adjust the mounting ( 20 ) in order to release the gas spring ( 32 ) from its blocked state and to allow the gas spring ( 32 ) to engage in its blocked state.

The invention relates to an industrial truck having an operating console and an adjustable mounting for the operating console.

Industrial trucks of the type mentioned above are in use in many designs, for example as high-bay order picking stackers. High-bay order picking stackers can be constructed, for example, as electric order picking/three-sided stackers which, on the mobile base, have a telescopic lifting frame and, adjustable vertically on the latter, the driver's station. Provided on the driver's station, as a load handling device, are a lateral thrust device having an additional lifting mast and a fork carrier that is adjustable vertically on the latter and has loadbearing forks. In the driver's station of such a high-bay stacker, an operating desk having an operating console is usually provided as an operating device and, for example, has a steering wheel, control circuits for diverse operating functions of the high-bay stacker and at least one display. In general, the invention relates to industrial trucks having an operating console which can be adjusted in accordance with the ergonomic need of the operator. An ability to adapt the operating console alignment ergonomically is important in particular in industrial trucks which can be controlled by an operator in a standing posture or in a sitting posture in the driver's station as desired.

Industrial trucks having an adjustable operating console, whose adjustable mounting has a gas spring, are also already in use. This gas spring is used to exert a supporting force on the operating console during adjustment. Once the desired adjustment has been found, the adjustable mounting has to be fixed in this operating console setting, for which purpose a clamping screw arrangement is used.

The invention is based on the object of providing an industrial truck of the type mentioned at the beginning in which the operating console can be adjusted quickly and reliably in a convenient manner into a respective desired new position.

In order to achieve this object, it is proposed according to the invention that at least one blockable gas spring be provided as a continuously adjustable locking element for fixing the respectively selected position of the mounting, and for this blockable gas spring to be provided with a triggering device that can be operated in order to adjust the mounting in order to release the gas spring from its blocked state and to allow the gas spring to engage in its blocked state.

The mounting is preferably fitted to a frame part of the industrial truck by means of a joint arrangement such that it can be pivoted about an inclination adjustment axis, so that it can be adjusted as desired into different pivoted positions in order to position the operating console in various inclined settings, the blockable gas spring being provided between a frame part of the industrial truck and the mounting as a locking element for fixing the mounting in a respective pivoted position.

In the context of the present invention, the term gas spring is primarily intended to include gas springs having a partial oil filling and gas springs without any oil filling, whose main piston, displaceably guided in the gas spring cylinder, can be blocked in a respective setting, so that the piston rod belonging to the main piston of the gas spring is also blocked in its respective extended position. The blocking of the piston is carried out by closing a fluid interchange path between the chamber regions of the gas spring cylinder that are separated by the piston. For this purpose, use is made of a valve in the fluid interchange path. The valve can be opened as desired in order to permit the fluid interchange between the chamber regions. In this case, the piston is then released for the purpose of movement in the gas spring cylinder, so that its piston rod can be extended further or retracted further. Within the context of the present invention, therefore, the blockable gas spring is used as a continuously adjustable locking element for the adjustable operating console. The triggering device is used to actuate the valve in the fluid interchange path, in order to release the gas spring from its blocked state or to allow it to engage in its blocked state.

Within the context of the invention, a damping cylinder with a liquid filling, in particular an oil filling, may also be suitable instead of the gas spring as a blockable continuously adjustable locking element. The basic structure of such a hydraulic damping cylinder resembles the structure of a blockable gas spring, although no operating gas under pressure is contained in the cylinder chamber, instead only liquid, preferably oil, as a fluid medium. The blocking is likewise carried out by closing a fluid interchange path between the chamber regions of the cylinder separated by the main piston.

According to a development of the present invention, the triggering device has an electromagnetic triggering force generator or a hydraulic triggering force generator or a pneumatic triggering force generator. The triggering force generator can be activated by a switch to be actuated by the operator in order to release the gas spring from its blocked state. This switch should preferably be provided on the operating console, so that the switch actuation and the adjustment of the operating console can be carried out simultaneously in a simple manner. The operator can then adjust the operating console into the desired position and block the gas spring in the relevant position by switching the triggering force generator.

The mounting of the operating console can preferably be adjusted lengthwise, having a base part connected to the joint arrangement and a console supporting part adjustable telescopically in relation thereto for this purpose.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the blockable gas spring is set up as a locking element for fixing the respective length setting of the mounting.

The blockable gas spring is preferably attached to the console supporting part on the mounting side, so that it serves as a locking element both for the respectively selected pivoted position and for the respectively selected length setting of the mounting.

According to another embodiment of the invention with a telescopic operating console mounting, the blockable gas spring is attached to the base part on the mounting side. In this case, it serves as a locking element for the respectively selected pivoted position of the mounting. This solution is recommended when in most cases the operator manages the operating console adjustment with the inclination adjustment. In order to lock the mounting in a respective length setting, a separate device can be provided, for example a clamping screw fixing mechanism or, if appropriate, a separate blockable gas spring with associated triggering device.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will be explained in more detail by using the appended figures.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective illustration of an industrial truck according to the invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show the adjustable operating console of the industrial truck from FIG. 1 in two different settings, a side view with a longitudinal sectional illustration of the console mounting having been chosen.

FIG. 3 shows a modification of the adjustable operating console from FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B in side view and longitudinal sectional illustration of the adjustable mounting.

FIG. 4 shows, in a simplified and schematic manner, a gas pressure spring with electromagnetic triggering device that can be used for the invention.

The industrial truck according to FIG. 1 is an electric order picking/three-sided stacker having a base vehicle 2, a telescopic lifting frame 4 on the base vehicle 2, a driver's station 6 which can be moved vertically on the lifting frame 4 and which, on its front side as a load handling device, has a lateral thrust device 8 of intrinsically known design. An operator (not illustrated) located in the driver's station 6 is able to output control instructions by means of the operating device 10 to a control device (not shown) in order to control the traveling operation, the lifting operation and the further load handling operation of the industrial truck. The operating device 10 comprises an operating console 14 having a steering wheel 16, a display 18 and having a plurality of control switches and control pushbuttons. The operating console 14 is removably fixed to a mounting 20, which permits an adjustment of the operating console 14 between the position shown in FIG. 1 for the operation while standing and in a position pivoted and lowered in the direction of the lifting frame 4 for the operation when sitting. The mounting 20 is arranged by means of the joint arrangement 22 on a front railing 24 of the driver's station 6 such that it can be pivoted about the horizontal inclination adjustment axis 26. The mounting 20 is a telescopically adjustable-length column, having a lower base part 28 (cf. FIGS. 2 a and 2 b), which is connected to the joint arrangement 22, and a console supporting part 30 that can be adjusted telescopically relative to the lower base part.

FIG. 2 a shows the adjustable operating console 14 in the set position for the operation when standing, also illustrated in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 2 b the mounting 20 has been tilted about the inclination adjustment axis 26 into a position for the operation when sitting, the console supporting part 30 of the mounting 20 having been pushed in telescopically.

A gas spring 32 extends between the railing plate 24 on the vehicle frame and the base part 28 of the mounting 20. In one example, the gas spring 32 is attached by its eye 34 on the side of the cylinder end to the base part 28 and by its eye 36 on the side of the piston rod end to the railing plate 24. The joint axes 38, 40 run parallel to the inclination adjustment axis 26 of the mounting 20.

The blockable gas spring 32 is equipped with an electromagnetic triggering device 42.

This triggering device 42 comprises a switchable electromagnet 44 (cf. FIG. 4), which is fixed by the supporting plate 46 to the eye mounting 50 provided at the lower end of the piston rod 48. Provided in a chamber 52 of the eye mounting 50 is a triggering lever 54 of the triggering device 42, it being possible for the triggering lever 54 to be pivoted about the pivot axis 56 between the raised triggering position shown in FIG. 4 and a passive position lowered with respect thereto. In order to actuate the triggering lever 54, an actuating linkage 60 connected to the armature 58 of the electromagnet 44 is provided, which linkage has a tilting lever 62 on the upper side of which the triggering lever 54 is supported. FIG. 4 shows the triggering device 42 in the state in which the armature 58 is attracted as a result of applying current to the electromagnet 44, so that the tilting lever 62 of the actuating linkage 60 is tilted upward about the tilt axis 64 and is thus attracted such that it has activated the triggering lever 54.

The piston rod 48 of the gas spring 32 has a triggering rod 66 which can be displaced in an axial guide and which bears a valve element 68 at its upper end. Together with a valve seat 70 on the piston 72 belonging to the piston rod 48, the valve element 68 forms a valve for the optional opening and closing of a fluid interchange path 74 between the chamber regions 76 and 78 of the gas spring cylinder 80 that are separated by the piston 72.

In order to block the gas spring, the valve 68, 70 has to be transferred from the open state shown in FIG. 4 to the closed state, so that fluid interchange between the chamber regions 76, 78 of the gas spring cylinder 80 is no longer possible. Therefore, a further piston movement of the piston 72 is blocked, so that further extension or retraction of the piston rod 48 is no longer possible. The gas spring 80 thus locks the operating console mounting 20 in the relevant inclined position. In FIG. 4, the triggering rod 66 is illustrated as forced upward by the triggering lever 54, so that the valve body 68 is lifted off its seat 70. It is possible for fluid interchange between the cylinder chamber regions 76 and 78 of the gas spring to take place through the fluid interchange path 74 in the piston 72, so that the blocking of the gas spring 32 is canceled and a change in the inclined position of the operating console mounting 20 can be made. The valve body 68 and its triggering rod 66 are normally prestressed downward (not shown) in the direction of the closed state of the valve, so that after the electromagnet 44 has been switched off, the blocked state of the gas spring 32 is automatically entered again.

In the example of FIG. 4, a gas spring with oil filling underneath the dividing piston 82 and gas filling in the chamber 84 above the dividing piston 82 is illustrated. Thus, only the oil takes part in the fluid interchange between the chamber regions 76 and 78 of the gas spring cylinder.

As an alternative to the gas spring shown in FIG. 4, other gas spring variants are also suitable for the present invention, in particular including those which have only a gas filling and need no dividing piston.

According to the invention, the gas spring is used as a continuously adjustable locking element. Moreover, its piston rod extending force, acting on one side, can also be used as a supporting force during adjustment of the operating console 14.

As already mentioned, the gas spring is normally closed in its blocked state (valve 68, 70) and can be released by actuating the electromagnet 44. In order to activate the electromagnet 44, an activation switch 86 is provided on the operating console 14, which switch the operator can actuate with one hand, in order then to transfer the mounting 20 into another inclined position.

For the purpose of telescopic adjustment of the length of the mounting 20 in the examples in FIGS. 2 a and 2 b, a clamping screw 88 has to be loosened, which is guided through a hole in the base part 28 and through a slot 100 in the console supporting part 30. The slot 100 provides the adjustment play for the length adjustment. After the length setting has been made, the clamping screw is tightened again in order to lock the console supporting part 30 to the base part 28.

A variant of the exemplary embodiment explained above is shown in FIG. 3. In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 3, the gas spring likewise provided with the reference symbol 32 is fixed by its fixing eye 34 on the side of the cylinder end to the console supporting part 30, which is guided on the base part 28 such that it can be displaced telescopically. The gas spring 32 in FIG. 3 thus serves as a locking element both for the respective inclined setting of the mounting 20 and also in relation to the length setting of the mounting 20. In order to change the setting of the operating console 14, the operator has to release the gas spring from its blocking by actuating the triggering switch 86 and then, by pivoting and, if necessary, superimposed adjustment of the length of the mounting 20, to bring the operating console 14 into the desired position. As soon as the actuation of the switch 86 is ended again, the gas spring 32 locks the mounting 20 in the new setting.

The exemplary embodiments shown of the adjustable operating consoles with their mountings and locking mechanisms have a simple structure and are very convenient to handle. 

1. An industrial truck having an operating console (14) and a mounting (20) for the operating console 14) which can be adjusted into various positions in order to position the operating console (14), at least one blockable gas spring (32) being provided as a continuously adjustable locking element for fixing the respectively selected position of the mounting (20), and this blockable gas spring (32) being provided with a triggering device (42) that can be operated in order to adjust the mounting (20) in order to release the gas spring (32) from its blocked state and to allow the gas spring (32) to engage in its blocked state.
 2. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 1, the mounting (20) being fitted to a frame part (24) of the industrial truck by means of a joint arrangement (22) such that it can be pivoted about an inclination adjustment axis (26), so that it can be adjusted as desired into different pivoted positions in order to position the operating console (14) in various inclined settings, the blockable gas spring (32) being provided between a frame part (24) of the industrial truck and the mounting (20) as a locking element for fixing the mounting (20) in a respective pivoted position.
 3. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 1, the triggering device (42) having an electromagnetic triggering force generator (44) or a hydraulic triggering force generator or a pneumatic triggering force generator.
 4. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 1, it being possible for the mounting (20) to be adjusted lengthwise, having a base part (28) connected to the joint arrangement (22) and a console supporting part (30) adjustable telescopically in relation thereto for this purpose.
 5. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 4, the blockable gas spring (32) being set up as a locking element for fixing the respective length setting of the mounting (20).
 6. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 4, the blockable gas spring (32) being attached to the console supporting part (30) on the mounting side and serving as a locking element both for the respectively selected pivoted position and for the respectively selected length setting of the mounting.
 7. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 4, the blockable gas spring (32) being attached to the base part (28) on the mounting side.
 8. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 4, the mounting (20) having a device separate from the gas spring (32) in order to lock the mounting in a respective length setting.
 9. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 8, the device for locking the mounting (20) in a respective length setting comprising a clamping screw fixing mechanism (88, 100) or a separate blockable gas spring. 